Lever type jar cap remover



Filed Sept. 15, 1947 J. E. HUGHES LEQVER TYPE JAR CAP REMOVER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 4, 1949. J, HUGHES I 2,483,830

LEVER TYPE JAR CAP REMOVER Filed Sept. 13, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 4, 1949 B? STATES E F F ICE.

'LEVER TYPE'JAR CAI-'REMOVER' Johnstone E. Hughes,LAnsonia, .Conn.

"Application September 13, 1947, Serial No. 773,831

1- Claim.. (01; til-$.46)

v lhisiinvention.relates to a tool for removing container capsyand more particularly to a kitchen --tool ?or.' utensil employed for removing the caps from jars, glasses, bottles, or the like.

iAtf' the present-time, t:many" kinds of food'are rpa'cke'd in jars or' bottlesrsealed with caps which -are'heldiiniplace. principally by friction, the caps being designedita ber rem'oyed :by. a tool having a prong orb blade. which may be engaged below a hange on the cap .orfiinsertedsbetween thecap 'andtashoulder oii ledgezuponzthejar'itself, sorthat the cap may be pried upwardly. and detached: from the jar or glass.

The caps .ortclosu'remembers are also of several difierent kinds,;-and;.intmany'instances; each kind requires a different. type of; tool: to. remove the cap from the contain'en. i For :this reason, it has: been difficult to. provide-a single tool: whichfimaybe employed for practically *all typeszofcontainers and caps. Moreover, in the caseioft-some containersfor example, jars having anvarcuate "shoulder or .rib thereon below the-cap usually present difficultyinithatsthey are supposed to be 'opened by employingithe back of a knife" or other 'tool'which may 'be inserted'between" the lower edge of the cap 'and& the. ledge onthe jar. As the "latter is of circular." form, thetool-"cannot' gain much of a purchase and' is. inclined to slip from beneath: the" cap, thus making it difficult to lift the latterfrom the jar.

"It' is'sicontemplat'e'di by the present invention to provide *a tool WhiChiWilPbe so 'constructed' that it may be employed .tofremove: manytypestof contaiher caps, theftooli being. particularly useful in connection with jars having an arcuate ledge thereon. For this purpose, the-end of the tool is formedrof arcuate shape. and of suoheproportions that it will fit closely th outside surfaceof the jar beneath the cap. In. order to prevent the tool from slipping away from the cap in a radial directiongithe tool is providedfiwithprongs at the-en'd -of the'arcuate portion, which prongs have*upwardl'y turned ends to-slip-below the flange of the cap and'thusprevent-the-tool from becoming detached, while-at the approximate' center of the arcuateportion a toe or projection is formed to engage below the cap and pry the latter upwardly. Thusthecap may be easily andpositivelyraised without danger of'thetool slipping and without undueexertion on the :part-of theuser of the tool.

At the same time, the tool is provided with various other instruments which may be usefully employed to remove caps of other types, as will be explained hereinafter, and is also provided withr-a piercing. prong which may be employed toopen tin: cans, for example.

One-object of; the presentinvention istoprovide a. tool for removing: the caps from-"jars, bottles, 5 and=thelike; which tools'will beof greatntility and; at the sametime-,--economical-to manufacture.

A stilllfurther objectofthe invention is taprovide a tool :for removing. 'the caps from.- jars, bottles, and thelike, which toolshall be economically manufactured, shall: be'durable in use, and with which caps may be removed with greater facility than with the toolsnow in ordinary use.

To-these and other ends, the invention consists in thenovel features andcombinations of parts to be hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

in the. accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1: is-altop plan-view of-a toolembodying. my invention;

-Fig..2.is-- asect-ionalview on line 2.2- of Figh l; 20- Fig; 3 isa sideelevational view showing the use of. the: toolin. removing. a cap from a. jarhaving an. angular ledge thereon;

Fig.4 is a sectional-view of thetool on line 4-4 of'Fig. 2;

Fig.5 is.-a.-side elevational- View of-theuse 0i the.tool -inremoving the cap or lid from a jelly :glass or the'like;

Fig.6.isa-side-elevational view showing the use of. thE-tOOlzil'L-DiGIOil'lg a-can;

Fig. 7. is atopplanview showing. the use of. the toolinremoving-acrimped. cap. from. a.b.ottle.; j and Fig. 8 is a side elevationall. viewshowing. the method of removing, the-cap. from a ketchup bottle orthe like..

To illustrate. a. preferred. embodiment of. my invention,IIhave-shownin Fig.1 of the drawings a toolcompris'ing.asubstantially flat body. portion l.l,.which.may be readily formed of sheet metal. Formed. integrally with. the body portion and surroundingthesame at the edge thereof is a depending. flange I l.,.which not only gives the tool a'fini's'hedflappearance but greatly adds to the strength and. durability of the same.

At. each corner of the body portion of the tool, arms project forwardly and outwardly, these arms being designatedby'the numerals I2 at one end of the'tool and by the numerals [3 at the other end. It will'be. understood that the'two. ends of the tool are of identical construction, except that the'end' at whichthe arms l3 are disposed is slightly smaller'than the other end so as'to be usable with a jar"or"j'ars of'smaller size.

The outer or forward edges of the arms l2, together with the outer ends of the body portion i9, form an end edge M of substantially arcuate shape, there being a similar edge I5 at the other end of the tool, and it will be apparent that the flange II is also provided at these arcuate edges. At substantially the center of the arcuate edge I4 is a downwardly and outwardly projecting member or toe I6, this toe having a slightly arcuate forward edge I! which is designed, in the present instance, to enter between the flange on a jar cap and the ledge upon the jar, so as to lift the cap from its sealed position. As shown in Fig. 2, for example, this toe member I6 projects slightly downwardly as well as forwardly so as to stand slightly below the body of the tool, and it is formed integrally with the flange I I which extends along the arcuate portion I9 of the tool. A similar toe member I8 is provided at the opposite edge of the tool.

At the end of each of the arms I2, there is provided a prong 20, these prongs extending substantially radially inwardly from the arcuate edge I4 at the ends of the latter. The extreme tips of these prongs 29 are bent upwardly and inwardly slightly, as shown at 2|, so that they may be engaged within the flange of the jar cap when the arcuate edge I4 lies upon the annular ledge upon the jar, as will be hereinafter explained. These inwardly and upwardly turned ends 2|, by engagement within the flange of the jar cap, prevent the tool from tending to slip away from the jar and thus retain it in engagement with the cap, so that the latter may be readily raised from the jar with a minimum of effort.

The use of this portion of the tool is shown more especially in Fig. 3, wherein, as illustrated,

a jar 22 having an annular ledge or shoulder 23 and a sealing cap 24 thereon provided with a depending flange 25. As shown in Fig. 3, the tool is applied to the cap in such a position that the toe I6 extends between the lower edge of the flange 25 and the ledge 23, while the arcuate edge I4 closely abuts the outer surface of the jar and lies upon the ledge 23, the prongs 2| entering beneath the flange 25 and between it and the jar, so that the tool will be firmly engaged with radial direction. If the outer end of the tool is then moved downwardly, the toe or projection I6 will engage below the edge of the flange 25, and,

as a part of this projection rests on the arcuate projecting from said arcuate portion at substanledge 23, it will act as a lever to pry the lid upwardly and open the jar while the prongs 29 are still engaged within the flange 25.

It will be understood that the arms I3 are provided with similar prongs 20 having upwardly Jurned ends ZI which, as stated, will be for use upon a jar of slightly smaller size then that upon which theopposite end of the tool is employed.

An arm 21 is struck downwardly from the body portion of the cap, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, this Also, as shown more especially in Figs. 1 and 6 of the drawings, a piercing point 3| is struck downwardly from the body of the tool, this point being ofiset downwardly from the upper surface of the tool, so that it may be employed to pierce the top of a can 32 or the like, as shown in Fig. 6.

Also, adjacent one end a substantially rectangular opening 33 is punched from the tool, and at each side of this opening, substantially midway between its ends, scallops 34 are provided. This part of the tool is employed to remove a crimped cap from a bottle, as shown in Fig. '7, and it will be noted that the arcuate shape of the scallops 34 enables this portion of the tool to engage the cap over a greater area than if the edge were straight instead of being of arcuate form. That is, the radius of the circle of which the arc 34 is a part is substantially the same as the radius of the bottle cap 35, and one of these portions 39 is provided upon each side of the opening 33, so that the tool may be used in Fig. 7 with a lifting motion or engaged over the opposite edge of the cap and the cap removed by a downward motion upon the end of the tool.

At one side edge, the tool may be provided with a blade or tongue 36 projecting outwardly from the flange II at that point. This tool may be employed, as shown in Fig. 8, to be positioned between the cap 31 and ledge 38 on a ketchup bottle or the like 39. When the tool is so positioned, a twisting motion of the tool will cause the cap to be raised with respect to the ledge 38 and thus loosen it upon the bottle.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claim.

What I claim is:

A tool for removing, from jars, caps having a depending flange, the jars having ledges spaced slightly below the depending flanges of the caps,

said tool having a relatively broad body and an arm being provided with a forwardly extending thereon and the portion 28 of the arm 21 engaged beneath the flange of the cap 29, and the tool is moved upwardly from the full-line position shown in Fig. 5 to the dotted-line position shown in that figure, so that the cap is raised from the jar about a point diametrically opposite the point on the cap which is engaged by the arm 21.

the cap and prevented from slipping away i end edge portion of concave arcuate shape, prongs projecting inwardly from the ends of said arcuate portion in a' substantially radial direction, said prongs having upwardly turned ends to enter between the cap flange and the jar, a toe member tially the central portion thereof, and said toe member being curved downwardly from the arcuate edge portion of the tool body.

J OHNSTONE E. HUGHES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 727,356 Harbaugh May 5, 1903 1,507,339 Cryer Sept. 2, 1924 2,430,651 Shanahan Nov. 11, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 41,341 Denmark Dec. 12, 1929 690,191 France June 16, 1930 276,310 Italy July 19, 1930 466,444 Great Britain May 28, 1937 

